Monday, November 30, 2015

This scene shows Lili, living as Einar, at a pivotal moment leading up to that transition. In an interview, the director Tom Hooper discussed the scene and some of his ideas for the movie.
(Excerpts from the Tom Hooper interview)

Tom Hooper on the paintings in the film: "At first, I was very purist and said we have to use the real Lili paintings and I won’t accept creating our own. And my production designer Eve Stewart said, fairly close to the shooting, “Tom, you do know that the Lili in the paintings is not Eddie Redmayne and doesn’t look exactly like him.” So there was a moment of going, yes, however pure I am, we are going to need to adapt these paintings so it does reflect Eddie Redmayne’s Lili. So we started to create very faithful versions of the paintings. The only way of really getting it right was by asking Eddie to sit for the painter as Lili Elbe. We recreated all the famous poses of the Lili paintings and Eddie would sit and the painter would work for many hours."

Tom Hooper on Eddie's casting: "Eddie has been drawn to the feminine. He played girl’s parts in school plays. He played Viola in Mark Rylance’s celebrated production of “Twelfth Night.” So he had a body of work of playing women before I approached him to play Lili. He has a quality of emotional transparency, which led me to think about him for Lili. I wanted the audience to go on a journey where step-for-step, beat-for-beat, you’re with Lili and you understand what she’s feeling. One of the things I think he achieves in the film is, with Eddie, Lili’s emergence becomes inevitable, becomes necessary. And that’s because of his extraordinary empathic ability to connect with audiences."

“The Danish Girl,” Tom Hooper’s new film, is a story of individual struggle that is also a portrait of a marriage. In this respect and others it resembles “The King’s Speech,” Mr. Hooper’s earlier historical drama, a multiple Oscar winner a few years ago....Read more

"I feel so lucky to be a part of it. J.K. Rowling has written and created such extraordinary characters and I love the world she creates, I love her imagination and to get to be a part of it is kind of wonderful but it's interesting because whenever you make a film you do it in a kind of vacuum and you don't really think about judgement - and we're making the film at the moment - but the first images came out and only then did I feel the weight of the fan base and the scrutiny but I love the character of Newt so I'm enjoying playing him."

"...Eddie Redmayne will star in the film as Newt Scamander and, more importantly, his wardrobe will be majorly on point with expert layering (waistcoat anyone?), enviable cap toe lace-up boots, and a sick teal topcoat. Redmayne has long been a GQ red carpet favorite thanks to a suit game and formalwear skills that are nearly untouchable level. The guy was born for menswear and we’re more than a little stoked to see all the dandy sorcerer s#!+ he’ll wear as Scamander."

Is “Fantastic Beasts” easier to play, without all the physical changes?

I think it may just be my personality, but I always find a reason to worry. So with Stephen Hawking it was about letting down Stephen. With Lili’s story it’s about letting down the trans community. And with “Fantastic Beasts” it’s wanting to do justice to an extraordinary world that J.K. Rowling has created.

Do you have to deal with any live animals or just imaginary creatures?

There are some live animals. Dan Fogler [who plays Newt’s nonwizard friend] and I had to negotiate quite some epically-sized snakes the other day. We went, “Wait a second, can’t we CGI those in?”

Phwoar. Travelling to Liverpool with the cast and crew of Fantastic Beasts feels like running away with the circus, though happily there are fewer clowns. It’s a huge operation, getting all the wigs, coats, stunt mattresses, posters, mannequins, sequined gowns, cameras, make-up tools, vintage cars, fake snow, tents and people to a new location. Huge....Read more

Excerpt: "Inside, Liverpool City Council staff try to get on with their day jobs knowing that Eddie Redmayne is filming downstairs. They tiptoe by, whispering, and I catch a few phrases: ‘The one who got the Oscar for that Stephen Hawking film... Yes, the young one with the freckles... Something about Harry Potter, I think... He’s just gorgeous... Oh, definitely wizards...’

Eddie, meanwhile, is quiet. He paces slightly between takes, smiles at everyone softly, sits in his black canvas chair and ducks upstairs to the green room for some solace now and then. He slips his jacket on moments before running in front of the camera, and slips it off again gently when he comes out. He and Katherine whisper to each other, maybe it’s their lines, maybe they’re telling secrets, who knows?

There’s something so right about Eddie and Katherine. They’re absolutely perfect for this movie, and I cannot wait for you to see the scene they filmed today. It’s a dramatic one. Involved a lot of running…"

More details from the Liverpool shot last month for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was released via Pottermore, where their correspondent checked out the set and watched stars Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller and Jon Voight shoot scenes at St. George's Hall and Cunard Building....Read more

..."I got cast in July, began August, wraps end of January. […] Because with the Harry Potter [films], they had the novels to refer to, so people knew what was going to come up […], but this is an original screenplay, and nobody knows what it’s about, really, so I don’t want to mess up."
.."The first day was really scary. We walked onto a big set, and Eddie Redmayne was there. I’ve watched his work for years. I remember him in Tess of the d’Urbervilles, and just you know, when you look at someone’s face and you want to hear to their story, and he had that, whatever that was. And Samantha Morton… I’ve admired her for so many years because of all her choices, and she’s a real actress. Took risks, was very courageous, and yet you knew nothing about her, which is what I admired the most. So I was standing there with these people, and I was just thinking, ‘Don’t get fired.’ But it was magic. It was worth it."

The film has also gone on location again, this time relocating to Cardington Sheds, in Bedfordshire, UK. The Cardington Sheds are old RAF sheds, which were used to build airships. The spaces are regularly used by films, including Star Wars: The Force Awakens – and now Fantastic Beasts. (x)

THE magical world of JK Rowling has Bedfordshire under its spell, as it is believed that scenes from the new Harry Potter spin-off film are being shot in Cardington Sheds. Warner Brothers vans arrived on the site last month, and it is now understood they are there for the upcoming movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them... Read more

What’s that heading into Shed 2 at Cardington? Rumour has it film crews have taken over the iconic hangar to film the latest JK Rowling film, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.... Read more

Less than a year left till the release of 'Fantastic beasts and where to find them' on 18. Nov. 2016

BespokeRedmayne (along with redbatchedcumbermayned) was fortunate to be included by Focus Features and Eddie’s team at an advance screening of The Danish Girl Nov. 16 in NY. This is not so much a review as some thoughts for Eddie’s fans...Read it here

“No pressure,” I tell Eddie Redmayne as we sit down in London to discuss his latest movie. “But our last interview was an all time favorite.”

“‘Oh my god!,” he says laughing, just as high energy and comfortably familiar as he always seems to be at public events. “Just tell me to shut up if I’m telling you the same stories again!”

The still rising star (a Harry Potter spinoff franchise is next) is talented at talk even if he protests ‘I’m incredibly boring!’ while redirecting questions to his characters. Of course his talent at wrapping the media around his finger, which served him well on the way to a Best Actor win last season for Theory of Everything, wouldn’t matter if he wasn’t also so gifted in front of the camera. He’s probably on his way to a second consecutive Best Actor nomination.....

...conversation about sexual fluidity, winning acting trophies, and the conversations with trans women that helped him form the character....Read the interview here

Eddie Redmayne rattles off statistics about the transgender community: "In 31 states, you can still be fired for being transgender," he says by phone from London. "The suicide rate within the community is incredibly high at 41%. The violence to trans women of color is confounding."...

"When you're playing someone like Lili, who was and is an icon, it comes with great responsibility."...

"Whenever I prepare for a part, I don't know if there is anything you can credit specifically to getting you ready," Redmayne said. "I try to immerse myself as much as I can in all forms of learning."...

"There was a huge generosity by the women I met across the board," he said. "They understood the urgency to educate the broader public, to learn to be allies to the community. But they all told me there was no one trans story."...

"He'd done so much homework," said April Ashley, 80, about meeting with Redmayne. "He'd read both of my books apparently, which was rather amazing that he had done all this research." After setting her eyes on him, she knew he'd be able to pull off the role physically. She spoke of his "fine, beautiful, not terribly masculine hands," and his face, "strangely is masculine, but when he puts on that wig and makeup, not so." But Ashley did caution the actor....

"Lili had been born Lili and, through conforming and society, had put up this masculinity that people saw as Einar," he said. "For me, then, it was about unraveling this masculinity to find herself."

Rebecca Root, 46, a transgender actress who plays Lili's nurse in the film, said this approach translated into an authentic expression of the lives of transgender people.

"It's a beautiful, honest depiction of somebody going through that very difficult process," she said. "He's a terrific actor anyway, but he approached this role with the required vigilance and integrity to the characters."...

The Frame's John Horn spoke with Eddie Redmayne about how he went about getting into character, the hardest part about shooting this film, and why he was nervous the first time he dressed as Lili Elbe on set.

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Venice September 5, 2015

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My name is Judit.I'm a Hungarian architect, a huge fan of Eddie Redmayne. I'm a grandma of two, but stayed teen in spirit. Eddie delights my days with his talent, kindness and beauty. I love to dive into his world. This blog is like a diary.

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